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Losing four in a row, including Thursday’s night extra-inning affair to a walk-off walk to Holy Cross, did not sit well with Northshore.

After taking an early 2-0 lead, the Panthers (7-6) responded to every Lakeshore threat, including a pair of five-run innings in the third and fourth, en route to a 13-3 victory in Day 2 of the Holy Cross-John Curtis Tournament at Ned Eades Field.

"This was tremendous," Panthers Coach Rick Mauldin said. "I can't even lie. It's tremendous. We haven't been playing well. JD (Evans) got control of the game early. ... and it gave us a good feeling. We hit the ball, which we do a lot, but we needed this,"

With two counts and the count even at 2-2, JP LaGreco put Northshore ahead in the bottom of the first inning after smacking a two-run single into center field.

The visiting Titans (3-6) got on the board in the top of the third. Following a walk, error by the second baseman and an infield single, Northshore starter JD Evans (2-0) issued a bases-loaded walk to Kyle Nauth. Mark Nicholson followed with an RBI groundout to even the score at 2-2.

The Panthers were quick to respond.

Dane Pedersen dropped a blooper in front of left fielder Jacob Vigh to regain the lead. LaGreco followed with a sac fly to score one. Then Nico Cuccia, Blake Way and Hayden Nugent all dipped their toes in the sand with RBI hits to go ahead 7-2.

After Mitchell Mejia cut Lakeshore’s deficit to four, again the Panthers came to bat ready to roll. Parker Morris led the charge with an RBI double, then Pederson and Cuccia’s RBI provided some cushion. Blake Way’s two-run single pushed the lead to 12-3.

Then in the bottom of the fifth with the bases loaded with Panthers, Nuccia drew a game-ending walk to snap the losing skid.

"JP and Blake have been struggling a bit, so this was a big game for them," Mauldin said. "We had some guys struggling come out of it. When you hit the ball, you become so much. That was very good for them."

Lost in the course of the offensive explosion was the steady Evans, who earned his second win on the season after tossing four innings, allowing three runs on hits and wiggling five base-runners.

Not only did Evans earn the win, but Mauldin believes his pitcher showed enough grit to earn the start in the district opener against Covington Tuesday.

"That's all we can ask of him," he said. "It's a good outing before we go into district, and we were looking for a performance like that this tournament. This is the first we've seen like that."